Saturday, October 24, 2015

31 Days of Horror: Day 24-- Gods of Lovecraft Brett Talley Interview

Over 9 of the next 10 days I will be featuring 10 of the 12 authors in this collection. Each has answered a series of questions from me about their God, why they picked it, what their favorite scary books are, and more. It’s very similar to the posts I have been running by authors all month, just with a Lovercraftian spin. Expect each day’s post to bring you a handful of new authors and titles to add to your arsenal of books you can suggest to patrons.

Please remember you can also enter for a chance to win one of two copies of The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft by emailing me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com by 10/29 at 11:59pm.----------------------------------------------

Who are you?

My name is Brett J. Talley, and I’m the author of several horror novels, most of which have Lovecraftian overtones. That’s particularly true of my most successful books, That Which Should Not Be and He Who Walks In Shadow.

Who is your favorite horror author [besides Lovecraft]?

Manly Wade Wellman. I often say Wellman is Lovecraft with hope. He takes the same fear of the unknown, of the ancient, of that which was and may be again, but he puts a twist on it where a righteous man or woman just might be able to stand against it. And I love that stuff. It’s the same idea that informs my writing, and I’m so glad to have discovered Wellman in recent years.

Why do you like to write horror?

I like the magic that we find in horror. That probably sounds strange, but we live in a world that has lost much of its mystery, and that mystery has been replaced by the cold, calculated, mathematical precision of science. But there is still magic in horror. There is still that sense of the unknown. Humans are explorers, and horror allows us to explore a world that is often far more interesting than our own. Plus, there is something comforting about horror. Terrible things happen in the real world, but the answers are never as simple as they are in the world of fiction. Things are never as black and white, good and evil is never as clearly defined, and there is no guarantee that the good guys are going to win out in the end. The monsters that my characters face are truly horrible, but they can be defeated. That's not always true in the real world.

Which “God” did you focus on in the Anthology? What features of this god do you find most interesting?

I wrote my story about Tsathoggua, the sleeping god who most resembles a giant toad. I love this guy for a bunch of reasons. First, he’s not Lovecraft’s invention; he’s Clark Ashton Smith’s. But Lovecraft liked him so much he incorporated him into the mythos. That really speaks to the collaborative nature of Lovecraftian fiction, one that is nearly unique in literature. I also love him because the stories of Tsathoggua are usually a little more lighthearted than Lovecraft’s other gods. I always enjoy injecting some humor into the story, and you can really see it in my contribution to the anthology—The Apotheosis of a Rodeo Clown.

Please share some of the authors you are reading and enjoying now.

Two guys, one horror and one not. My favorite living horror writer is Ronald Malfi, and I am currently reading his newest book Little Girls. It will be hard to top the last one I read by him, December Park, but it’s good so far. And I’m reading Haruki Murakami, who is obviously not horror, but his style of writing is both beautiful and captivating in a way that can evoke real emotion. We need more of that in horror.

What other works do you have out now?

My big current offering is He Who Walks In Shadow, which is the sequel to the Bram Stoker Nominated That Which Should Not Be. It starts immediately after TWSNB ends, with Henry Armitage and Carter Weston’s daughter, Rachel, seeking to understand his disappearance and find the Incendium Maleficarum. That takes them on an adventure around the world, where they are haunted by demons both spiritual and personal.

What are you working on currently?

I’m working on a Lovecraftian book set in modern times that centers around the Sons of Dagon, the biker gang featured in Apotheosis of a Rodeo Clown. Keep your eyes out for it next year, hopefully.

About Me

I am a Librarian [MLIS] in Illinois specializing in serving leisure readers ages 13 and up. I train library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through their local public library. I am the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, 2d edition (ALA Editions, 2012). I am under contract to write content for EBSCO's NoveList database, Booklist and Indie Picks Magazine , am a member of the Adult Reading Round Table Steering Committee, a 5 term Trustee for my local library, and am a proud member of The Horror Writers' Association. Check out the side bar for links to the groups and organizations with which I am affiliated.